FORT FRANCES – The ambulance station in Emo is closed, at least for now, in response to a severe shortage of paramedics.
The District of Rainy River Services Board (DRRSB) has temporarily “shifted to a three-ambulance model” instead of the longstanding practice of having four ambulance stations operating at once.
The DRRSB said in a news release this week that the modification “enables us to maintain service coverage without overextending our paramedic team.”
The four-ambulance model that includes the Emo station will be reinstated once paramedic staffing levels allow for it, the news release stated.
The adjustments are necessary as the DRRSB has “been steadily losing paramedics,” board chair Deborah Ewald said in an interview.
“Lots of them come from southern Ontario and are here for a couple of years, and then want to go back home,” she noted.
The EMS service previously confirmed that the Emo base was fully staffed with local paramedics who will now be redeployed to help keep the other bases in operation.
The paramedic shortage is provincewide, Ewald said – “Rainy River is not the only region dealing with it.”
The district is about 30 per cent short of the 46 full-time equivalent paramedic staffing it needs to operate four ambulance stations, according to the board.
Ewald said the service was “heading into dire straits, so we temporarily closed Emo and up-staffed Rainy River’s ambulance base and Atikokan’s.”
The board is “continuing to explore options” and “looking at a range of recruitment strategies” to draw paramedics to the district, DRRSB chief executive officer Charene Gillies told Newswatch.
“We are focused on recruitment and retention and are working hard to attract more paramedics to the district,” the DRRSB’s news release said. “We are also continuing to seek support from partners, including municipal counterparts and the provincial government, to help stabilize our service.”
